ITU adds WiMAX in 3G standard suite

The WiMAX Forum recognizes the decision of the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) to include WiMAX technology in the IMT-2000 set of standards.

The decision to approve the WiMAX Forum's version of IEEE Standard 802.16 as an IMT-2000 technology significantly escalates opportunities for global deployment, especially within the 2.5-2.69GHz band, to deliver Mobile Internet to satisfy both rural and urban market demand.

"This is a very special milestone for WiMAX technology," said Ron Resnick, WiMAX Forum president. "This is the first time that a new air interface has been added to the IMT-2000 set of standards since the original technologies were selected nearly a decade ago. WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people and this announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."

From the initial application made at the ITU-R WP8F meeting in January to this week's meeting of the Radiocommunications Assembly in Geneva, Administrations, industry and ITU have worked together to achieve the decision.

With WiMAX technology approved as a new IMT-2000 specification, the WIMAX ecosystem will benefit from greater economies of scale, thus reducing the already low cost to deliver broadband wireless services to include VoIP as well as the multiple services expected from wireless broadband Internet access.

Originally created to harmonize 3G mobile systems and to increase opportunities for worldwide interoperability, the IMT-2000 family of standards will now support four different access technologies, including OFDMA (includes WiMAX), FDMA, TDMA and CDMA.

"3G solutions based upon technologies such as W-CDMA, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA technologies were already included in the IMT-2000 set of standards," said Resnick. "With WiMAX technology now included, it places us on equal footing with the legacy-based technologies ITU-R already endorses. The bottom line is that operators across the globe now have the freedom to select the right technology to best meet their business and regional needs."